Neapolitan bourbons

Fill and dust these biscuits just before you want to eat them.

Makes 25 Prep 40 mins plus freezing Cook 10 mins per batch

125g soft unsalted butter

125g golden caster sugar, plus extra

for sprinkling

2 tbsp golden syrup

1 large egg, lightly beaten

250g plain flour, plus extra

for dusting

50g cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder milk (optional)

FOR THE FILLING

150g unsalted butter, softened

360g icing sugar, sifted

4 tbsp cocoa powder pink food colouring

1 Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy, then mix in the rest of the ingredients. Add a splash of milk if the mixture looks a bit dry – it should come together as a dough.

2 Line three baking sheets, dust lightly with flour, then roll and pat a third of the dough out to the thickness of a £1 coin on each. Cover and freeze for 15 mins.

3 Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Slide the dough off the trays and put a new piece of parchment on each. Trim the edges of the dough to straighten, then cut into rectangles, roughly 6 x 3cm. Lift each one carefully onto the tray, leaving some space between them as they’ll expand. Bourbons usually have a pricked pattern, so use a cocktail stick to do this if you want (not too many or they’ll break up). Put the dough back in the freezer if it gets too soft.

4 Bake for 8-10 mins, then cool on the sheet as the biscuits will be soft when hot. Sprinkle over some extra sugar. Will keep for a week in an airtight container.

5 Meanwhile, make the filling. Beat the butter and icing sugar together, then divide the mixture into three. Add the cocoa to one lot, a dot of pink colour to another, and leave the last one plain (add a little more icing sugar if you need to). Spoon each into a piping bag.

6 When the biscuits are completely cool, pipe the icings onto half, then sandwich with the other halves. Leave to set.

PER BISCUIT 221 kcals, fat 10g, saturates

6g, carbs 29g, sugars 21g, fibre 1g, protein 2g, salt none